Rene 12-54 scuba cylinder

[garyw90]

Not mine!

8-54 is date of manufacture---August 1954...

I still wonder about your step dad..at 50 in 1960 he would have been one of the senior members of the OC tribe.. It was a very very small world then...we all knew each other by name or sight...and only three dive shops in all of OC, so I strongly suspect we have crossed paths-maybe once or often..

Do you have any documentation, brochures, paper of any description about him or dive operations?

SDM

Sam I was down visiting my step gradfather today, and he had many interesting stories. Among them was that he captained a dive boat that he thinks was called the Scuba, which eventually sank off Catalina in rough weather. He was not captaining the boat when that happened. I could not get him to give a time frame of when he did that, he is 99 years old after all. He also told me about the WK tanks, that yes, they were in fact wrapped with piano wire, and that they were used for breathing at higher altitudes. He also said after he heard about Jacques Cousteau, he actually took on of the regulators from those tanks and adapted it to scuba diving. I have that out in the garage. Here are some pictures:
IMG_5326.jpg
IMG_5327.jpg

There were also what looked like an adapter for a fill hose, and and underwater watch:
IMG_5328.jpg
IMG_5330.jpgIMG_5329.jpg
He also talked a bit about how when he was working for the Santa Monica Police Department he would go about searching for weapons that were thrown off the Santa Monica Pier. He had a 200 foot line that he would stake in the sand, with markers on the line, and then he could use those as a reference while he performed a search pattern.

Then there was the time that he did an underwater scene in about 16 feet in a sandy region off Catalina for use in a movie. He did not know the name of the movie, however. He said the ffects guys fashioned a spear from a spear gun that wrapped around part of his body, to appear as if he had been shot with the spear.

Sounds to me like he may have been a bit of a pioneer back in the days. I'll try to get more information out of him, as he is able to remember the details.

[captain]

I looks like one of the early watch cases sold by US Divers, I had one. It was a water and pressure proof case you put a watch in. There were very few truly water and pressure proof watches back then.
The US Navy,s divers watch made by Bolivia also called the canteen watch because of its appearance, the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms and the Rolex Oyster Perpetual were a few and they were very expensive.
The waterproof case was a cheap and easy way to have a waterproof watch.

[sam miller]

Sam
I was down visiting my step gradfather today, and he had many interesting stories. Among them was that he captained a dive boat that he thinks was called the Scuba, which eventually sank off Catalina in rough weather. He was not captaining the boat when that happened. I could not get him to give a time frame of when he did that, he is 99 years old after all
**** The boat was the SCUBA- jointly owned by a number of people. It went down in 1957 or 8. The boat had anchored at Eagle Reef, all the divers were in and under the water when a Santana came up blew very hard directly into the island, all divers were in the water the Captain (as I recall) was Pat O'Malley could not start the engines and the boat SCUBA to drug anchor and crash into the island.. Splintering into non salageabe junk--Pat was the Captain that took the sinking...For a number of years he was very popular but after this event he just disappeared~
PLEASE Inquire about Pat O Malley!
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He also told me about the WK tanks, that yes, they were in fact wrapped with piano wire, and that they were used for breathing at higher altitudes.

He also said after he heard about Jacques Cousteau, he actually took on of the regulators from those tanks and adapted it to scuba diving. I have that out in the garage. Actually we heard and saw the movie of Hans Hass several years before we heard of JYC..but JYC was the one who used compressed air rather than O2

Here are some pictures:
IMG_5326.jpg
IMG_5327.jpg

**** Pictures areof a Waterlung Sport diver circa 1958...some what rare and very collectable &$$$$$
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There were also what looked like an adapter for a fill hose, and and underwater watch:
IMG_5328.jpg
IMG_5330.jpgIMG_5329.jpg
****AS Captain stated US Diver watch cases also rare & $$$..most in SoCal used Herb Samsons watch cases very very rare and much thinner and smaller..I still have two..
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
He also talked a bit about how when he was working for the Santa Monica Police Department he would go about searching for weapons that were thrown off the Santa Monica Pier. He had a 200 foot line that he would stake in the sand, with markers on the line, and then he could use those as a reference while he performed a search pattern.

**** I was an Orange county type and in those days Santa Monica was the other side of the moon...However mention Bill Barada a LA type fireman who lived in Santa Monica and was the founder of the Santa Monica Blue fins dive club as well as the Neptunes dive club--Bill was very very active passed on 15 years ago in Florida
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Then there was the time that he did an underwater scene in about 16 feet in a sandy region off Catalina for use in a movie. He did not know the name of the movie, however. He said the ffects guys fashioned a spear from a spear gun that wrapped around part of his body, to appear as if he had been shot with the spear.
***** I am not certain about that movie could have been a Sea Hunt or a low buget movie called "Mermaids of Tiberon " which was photgraphed in Catalina or ????
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sounds to me like he may have been a bit of a pioneer back in the days. I'll try to get more information out of him, as he is able to remember the details.

May I suggest since you are into the sport that you invest in a tape recorder and record every thing he says - I suspect he has a wealth of diving history that will soon be lost-- I am not too many years behind him and as you probably suspected..

SDM

[garyw90]

Hi Sam, actually, I did in fact video tape him as he told these stories, and others, and I plan on visiting him again soon so I can get more stories from him. Thanks for your valuable insight, and I'll have to ask him about Pat O'Malley, and some of the other things you mentioned!